Gilani asks Malik to visit Balochistan

Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani. - File Photo

ISLAMABAD: Following a lukewarm response to the government’s proposal to hold an all-party conference on the issue of Balochistan, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani on Thursday asked Interior Minister Rehman Malik to visit the violence-hit province to supervise the implementation of the Aghaz-i-Haqooq-i-Balochistan package there.

According to a statement by the Prime Minister’s Secretariat, the decision to ask the minister to proceed to Quetta and “take further steps to implement the package” was taken by Mr Gilani after meeting Mr Malik.

The statement said that during the meeting Mr Malik briefed the prime minister on the law and order situation in the country.

Sources said the purpose behind sending the interior minister to Balochistan was to collect first-hand information about the situation obtaining there.

They said that Mr Gilani asked the minister to visit the province and formulate a comprehensive report on the matter.

In a related development, Balochistan Chief Minister Nawab Aslam Raisani and newly-elected senators from the province called on President Asif Ali Zardari on Thursday.

Faryal Talpur was present on the occasion, an official statement said.

The senators-elect who met the president were Ali Madad Jattak, Nawabzada Saifullah Magsi, Sardar Fateh Mohammad Hasni, Rozi Khan Kakar, Mohammad Yousuf Baloch and Sabir Baloch.

On the occasion, Mr Zardari expressed the hope that the newly-elected senators would work with devotion to strengthen the democratic institutions in the country. They would also play an active role for the welfare and development of their areas, said the statement.

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